Asian newspapers: room for innovation

Posted by Caroline Huber on March 4, 2009 at 11:36 AM

As US newspaper groups declare bankruptcy and some fold due to the economic recession and web competition, the printed newspaper continues to thrive in Asia. The World Press Trends 2008 by World Association of Newspapers reports that eight of the world's top ten daily newspapers with the highest circulation are printed in Asia, and the largest newspaper markets are Japan, China, and India.

According to a Time article, some media expansion in Asia corresponds with the fall of dictators as readers appreciate a freer press devoid of government propaganda. For example, Indonesia has seen a tremendous rise in the number of newspapers after the deposition of President Suharto in 1998. Though state censorship still exists in China, a press revolution is in progress as the central government reduces state subsidies for newspapers, creating a free-market that forces editors to print stories that sell.

Time also attributes low Internet access throughout Asia as a source of the newspapers' success, saying that as of last September only 12.24 million Indians subscribed to an Internet service compared to the 180 million Indians with newspaper subscriptions. India's print media continues to expand, and the country reported 11.5 million new newspaper readers in 2008 and 65,000 newspapers across the country.

The Japanese remain the world's most avid newspaper readers, and Time says that in Japan the average household still subscribes to more than one paper. However, online readers are more prevalent in East Asia, and, though readership is stronger than in the U.S., newspaper circulation has declined in the past few years. Publishers realize they cannot count on younger consumers, and this summer the Asahi Shimbun, the second largest newspaper in Japan, plans to launch a paid service for readers to access news through their cell phones.

Many blame the difficulties of the American and European newspaper on a failure to react quickly enough to the rise of the Internet and to adapt to changing readership. As they witness the changes in the American and European newspaper markets, perhaps the Asian media can benefit from these mistakes by anticipating the challenges their own newspapers will face as internet readership rises and by devising a viable solution and business model in advance.

Source: Time, World Hum